Women's soccer still on track for Ivy League title after Fall Break

A whole week to think about nothing but soccer.

That was what the women's soccer team had been hoping for this past week, as it faced three different opponents while the rest of the school was trying hard to think about nothing at all following midterms. Unfortunately for Princeton, the extra focus that the Tigers had hoped for never really materialized.

True, Princeton did go 2-0-1 over fall break, but neither of the two wins showed the kind of dominance that the team was looking for over the season's home stretch. The Tigers have only two regular season games — including a lone conference contest against Yale — before the NCAA Tournament begins.

On Saturday, Oct. 27, Princeton (12-1-2 overall, 5-0-1 Ivy League) took on visiting Cornell (4-6-3, 1-3-1). Despite the Big Red's relative lack of offensive firepower and winless Ivy League record, the Tigers scratched out a 1-0 win.

"Our game against Cornell was a really tough one considering we were just coming off midterm week," senior captain and midfielder Linley Gober said. "We had several great chances and, to her credit, the Cornell keeper played really well."

Katie Thomas, the Big Red's goalie, managed to keep Princeton off the scoreboard for more than 88 minutes of the contest. The lone goal came with 1:26 left in the game; junior forward Krista Ariss rifled the ball just under the crossbar from 25 yards out to give the Tigers the win.

Princeton revived its offense — if only temporarily — in a Halloween matchup against American University (7-6-3, 4-2-1). Not only did three different Tigers score, but also the team had a new points leader by the end of the night.

Junior forward Joan Cundey, freshman forward Janine Willis and Ariss all tallied goals on the night. Ariss' 15-yarder — following a cross-over move to beat her defender — moved her into first place on Princeton's total points list this season with 13 (five goals, three assists). Ariss had been tied with freshman Kristina Fontanez with 11 points.

Scoring only once in the first half, Princeton took control of the game early in the second — netting two goals within five minutes. Controlling the game so thoroughly allowed the Tigers to showcase some of the talent off of their bench.

"Our American game was a great team effort," Gober said. "We had a lot of players who came off the bench and played really well for us."

Not everything went as planned for Princeton during its soccer-heavy break, however.

Head coach Julie Shackford warned against taking the matchup with Penn (12-1-3 overall, 4-1-1 Ivy League) on Nov. 3 too lightly when she talked about the "wonderful" Princeton-Penn rivalry the week before the game.

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Perhaps looking ahead to an outright victory in the Ivy League race, the Tigers may not have heeded their coach's warning.

Just as quickly as Princeton had found its scoring touch against American, the team lost it against Penn. The Quakers stymied the Tiger offense while performing a feat that few teams have this season — the Quakers outshot Princeton, 21-20.

Even with the deadlocked outcome, Princeton had a clear most valuable player. Senior keeper Catherine Glenn faced two shots from close range by Quakers who had slipped past the entire Tiger defense — including one in the overtime period.

Sophomore midfielder Theresa Sherry scored for Princeton, giving the team the lead midway through the second half. Normally, a one goal lead is enough for the stingy Tiger defense.

Normally.

Penn tied the game in the 88th minute and neither team could gain an advantage in the overtime period.

"We were all pretty disappointed by the Penn tie, but I think that it was a great wake-up call for us," Gober said. "We now know that we cannot afford to take any team for granted."

"I didn't think we played as strong as we could have," Shackford said, "but Catherine [Glenn] had a great game."

Princeton's next match takes place Wednesday night against Fairfield, and the team finishes out the regular season at home against Yale on Nov. 10.